I regret to inform you that I have made the difficult decision to withdraw my candidacy for the 2nd Assembly District.

I have learned the following:

1. If one wants to run for statewide office, announce your candidacy three-years in advance and spend the first two years doing one thing: fundraising. Raise at least one-million dollars (based on public domain information on what the incumbent already has).

2. Once one has secured one-million dollars, recruit at least fifteen professional full-time hires who will run multiple departments of a campaign and volunteers. One cannot expect volunteers to give up their own jobs for an unpaid full-time job.

3. Last, during the election year, the candidate must take a one-year unpaid leave of absence from one’s career or retire and then run for office a full year in advance of the primary election. This will be a full-time job in excess of 40 hours a week.

Our platform and movement was enthusiastically received. However, that same hope and joy of having an alternative candidate to vote for never translated to significant donations or an army of volunteers required. Consequently, it became apparent to me that this campaign is not sustainable. Moreover, I can no longer accumulate additional personal debt in this cause.

It is a viscous cycle: ask the majority of comparative poor and powerless (myself included), to give great quantities of what we cannot afford (time and money) because of a rigged economy and broken system. Thus, we cannot elect progressive members (not beholden to corporate and business interests) to pass policies to provide the majority with more money, time, and a higher quality of life. This reality drives home another key plank in our platform: the need for publicly financed campaigns if we are ever to have a society based on the Public Interest instead of special interests funded by the wealthy and powerful.

In closing, thank you especially to my campaign manager and to our supporters, volunteers, endorsers, and well-wishers. The cause for a more equitable society, one that is environmentally sustainable, and a second New-Deal for the 99% of us – will continue. However for the present, I return to life as a private citizen and college educator.